Theatre

Thomas The Tank Engine

November - December 2002 / BBC Special Effects, Department, London

James was part of a team designing and making five (nearly life size) working vehicles for Thomas and Friends Live Stage Show. The vehicles were battery powered for driving around the stage with smoke effects for steam and had animatronic faces.

Bob the Builder

July - December 2001 / Asylum Models and Effects Ltd., London

James was part of a team designing and making five life size working vehicles which were made for the Bob the Builder Live Stage Show. The vehicles were battery powered and had hydraulics to move the main features such as the crane, scoop, bucket, etc. The vehicles were constructed on steel chassis with fiberglass or aluminum honeycomb composite. The drivers of the trucks were hidden from the audience, while Dizzy the cement mixer, Bird, Squawk, and Pilchard the cat were all animatronic and were operated by radio control.

Tweenies Live

May - August 2000 / Neal Scanlan Studios Ltd., London

James was part of a team designing and making seven different animatronic heads for the stage show and world tour of the Tweenies Live. They were made as light as possible for the benefit of the performer and their performance.

Doctor Dolittle

January 1998 / Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, London

James was part of a team designing and making animatronic creatures for the theatre production of Doctor Dolittle staring Philip Schofield, which required numerous animatronic creatures to fill the stage and for the Doctor to perform with. We also had to resolve where the puppeteers could be hidden in the surrounding set to give a good performance and yet in such a way as not to make it obvious that there was someone there.

Star Trek - The Lost Voyage of the Enterprise

James was part of a team designing and making five models based on the original TV series for the Theatre production, Star Trek - The Lost Voyage of the Enterprise at the Churchill Theatre in South Bromley, Kent. The models were of the Enterprise and Klingon ships and varied in size, but most were 6-8ft long, one of the Enterprises was 15ft long. All the models were internally lit and could be hung on wires or rigs enabling them to be flown across the stage.